Fitzcarraldo Will Stay Open, Members Won’t Receive Refunds, and Other News On 3rd Ward’s Closure
After the sudden news yesterday that Bushwick’s 3rd Ward would be shuttering by the end of the week, information is starting to come in bits and pieces. We spoke with Julian Brizzi, co-owner of the building’s relatively new in-house restaurant Fitzcarraldo, who confirmed that the restaurant will be staying open, and that, like the rest of us, they weren’t aware of any potential closure until this week.
“As you can probably imagine this came as a huge surprise to all of us at Fitzcarraldo,” Brizzi told us via email. “Everything seemed to be going well inside 3rd Ward, and we were as in the dark as everyone else seems to have been about their financial troubles until the announcement came Tuesday afternoon that they’d be closing effective immediately. We’re really sorry to see them go, and had a great experience working with Jason and his entire team over the last year and a half, not to mention all the parties and events we’ve attended since they opened their pioneering project over seven years ago. This is a huge loss to the Brooklyn creative community, the neighborhood, and all of the people that have worked for and with 3rd Ward.”
Brizzi also emphasized that the restaurant will be staying open, but condensing service hours to dinner and weekend brunch service now that the building won’t have a reliable stream of daytime clientele. “We’ll be staying open, and will hopefully have a number of innovative, interesting, and trailblazing small businesses moving into the building as our neighbors very soon,” he says.
Meanwhile, one 3rd Ward member posted the following email the site sent out yesterday:
Dear members,
It is with heavy hearts that we are emailing you today to let you know that after seven wonderful years of serving our community, 3rd Ward is closing its doors.
When we opened in 2006, our vision was to create a shared space for our community of artists and entrepreneurs to have a place to work, learn, network and thrive. We’re proud to have been able to do that for as long as we did. Yet, with the costs of running and operating our space, we are sadly no longer able to remain in business.
That said, it is our priority to make sure that our members are able to collect their belongings before our doors officially close on October 11th. We will have open hours from 10am-6pm on this Thursday and Friday, and next week on Monday and Tuesday for you to pick up any of your materials. Additionally, we will be open from 9am-1pm this coming Saturday, and 12pm-4pm this coming Sunday to permit you to pick up any of your materials.
Unfortunately, you will not have an opportunity to use your membership after today at 6pm, and we will not be able to refund any payments made for membership services that have not been fully utilized before that time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at help@3rdward.com. As we are operating with limited staff, please be aware that we will answer your email as quickly as possible, but your patience is appreciated.
All the best,
3rd Ward
So, if you still have materials on site, get ’em while you can (and maybe stop by Fitzcarraldo for a drink while you’re at it), and if you have any money tied up in the place, well, set your expectations low.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.